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IFAD to discuss climate and agriculture with Saudi officials

Speaking prior to a meeting with key government officials in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, IFAD Assistant President Matthew Wyatt said the “urgent new challenges such as climate change, a precarious global food supply and rising commodity prices,” make our long and successful partnership more crucial than ever.

Wyatt is on a three-day official visit to Riyadh to meet with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance, the Saudi Fund for Development, and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Wyatt said “IFAD was especially eager to work with Saudi Arabia more closely on the growing challenge of climate change. For IFAD, climate change has a special significance because our mission is to enable poor rural people to overcome poverty and hunger.” He also noted that “the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said very clearly that climate change will hit the poorest and most vulnerable people hardest. This is why there is a clear economic, social and moral imperative to help poor rural people adapt to climate change in a sustainable way.”